Hi, everyone! We had a few bumps in getting into our new house with the plumbing, but now we seem to be on track. I even got to hang some quilts in my studio yesterday. (More pics to come next week.) Anyway, thought you would like to see my ironing and cutting setup.

I bought a “big board” from a quilt show and then my hubby proceeded to purchase some stand alone cupboards from Lowe’s. He nailed a piece of particle board to the tops of the cabinets and then put the big board on top. PERFECT! Ironing boards can take up so much room in your sewing area, but this provides a needed space AND storage! The cabinets are about 4″ from the wall, so I can drape my large fabrics over the back as I iron. And yes, that is a “steam generator” iron. I LOVE mine. It eliminates the need to press back and forth a million times, just twice thru and you are done. The space also doubles as a cutting center.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I’m very thankful for my family, friends and followers! I’m still moving into my new space and thought I’d spend a few minutes showing you how it is going.

Many of you know that I like to scrapbook with my sisters once a year. Anyway, organizing my scrapbooking stuff is hard to do, so I can have it handy, but organized. I was searching for a great alternative to basic scrapbooking carts and found this really great chest at Hobby Lobby the other day. I got it for 40% off, too. It holds everything vertically and looks great in my new space, especially since I love my baskets to hold little supplies.

This chest holds all my scrapbooking articles

I opened the chest to show you how much stuff it holds. The great thing is that the lid stays up so I can reach for my things and easily find them.

Open Scrapbooking Chest

The quilts got moved recently, too. I’ve been “hanging” my quilts for a long time. I use a spare closet. It helps to find them when I want a particular quilt to decorate in the house or get a quilt for a class I’m teaching.

Hanging quilts in a spare closet.

I do hang them with the lengthwise grain going from top to bottom. (More about grainline in an upcoming blog.) Have a happy day organizing your space!

Many of you know that I’m moving to a new home in the mountains. It has been our dream to live closer to the Smokies, so my hubby and I took the plunge! Now I’ll have a dream studio to organize my business and my hobbies. I’ll be posting as I move in and show you how I organize as I go. Stay tuned!

Pictured above is the space. It needed a lot of TLC, it was dirty with awful 80’s vinyl and badly in need of paint. (It was an artist’s studio.) The first thing I did was paint and get new vinyl laid. AHHH! Much better now!

Here is a great tip for storing your fabric. My students are amazed at how I organize it. I wash, press and fold my fabric and store it up on end, like a book! It is much easier to choose one or two fabrics than in a stack. People ask me all the time if I use those “bolt thingys” that are available to wrap the fabric on. No, I don’t. It would just take up valuable space. Try this the next time you organize your stash!

Hi, everyone! I’m back from the Houston show. It was fabulous as usual. Lot of great classes and great students!

Eager students all the way from the UK!

My sister, Gayle, came with me to help with sales and made block keepers as fast as she could for my eager students.

Gayle making block keepers as fast as she can!

Of course the quilts were fabulous! And the shopping was out of this world, everything you could ever need for quilting was in one place. Unfortunately, my sister and I only had a limited amount of time for shopping. 🙁 I did see Sandra Dallas promoting her new book, “The Quilt Walk”. It is a story for tweenagers about traveling west in a wagon train. (Great as a Christmas gift for the child in your life!)

“Love the new website! I’m finishing the Carpenter’s Wheel quilt. What quilting pattern do you recommend for the alternating fabric blocks and side triangles?”

What a great question, Donna. I do have an extensive collection of quilting stencils. (I love using them.) My best solution for choosing the correct design is to use a white chalkoliner from Clover and sketch the design onto the quilt top to see if you like it. You can rub it off if you don’t and then keep trying until you get the perfect design for your block.